London, Jul 4 (IANS): The UK witnessed its hottest June since record keeping began in 1884 with climate change a major factor, the Met Office announced.

The average mean temperature for June in the UK this year hit 15.8 degrees Celsius, 0.9 degrees higher than the joint previous record of 14.9 degrees in 1940 and 1976, reports Xinhua news agency.

Met Office scientists found that the chance of observing a June beating the previous joint record has at least doubled since the 1940s.

"Alongside natural variability, the background warming of the Earth's atmosphere due to human-induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record high temperatures," said Paul Davies, Met Office climate extremes principal fellow and chief meteorologist.

"By the 2050s, the chance of surpassing the previous record of 14.9 degrees Celsius could be as high as around 50 percent, or every other year," Davies said, adding that beyond the 2050s, the likelihood is "strongly governed" by the emissions of greenhouse gases.

According to the Met Office, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all reported "their respective warmest June on record" this year.

"What's striking is the persistent warmth for much of the month, with temperatures widely into the mid-20s Celsius for many and even into the low 30s at times," said Mark McCarthy, a climate scientist at the Met Office.

The highest temperature reached last month was 32.2 degrees Celsius, he added.

The UK also recorded its sunniest June since 1957 and its fourth sunniest on record, while rainfall was in short supply for much of the month.

Environment groups warned that the record-hot weather in June had caused an increase in fish deaths.

Earlier this year, the Met Office confirmed that 2022 was UK's warmest year on record, with the average annual temperature higher than 10 degrees Celsius for the first time.